Common Names: Valerian (all-heal, set-well, English valerian, Belgian valerian, common valerian, German valerian, wild valerian, heliotrope, garden heliotrope, fragrant valerian, vandal root, phu (Galen), amantilla, capon’s tail)
Scientific Name: Valeriana officinalis
Family: Valerianaceae Continue reading
Common Names: Horehound, White Horehound, Bull’s Blood, Seed of Horus
Scientific Name: Marrubium vulgare (Black Horehound is Ballota nigra)
Family: Lamiaceae (mint family)
“He that would live for aye, must eat Sage in May†– John Ray, 1678
Common Names: Sage, Garden Sage, Common Sage
Scientific Name: Salvia officinalis (salvia – “to heal†or “to be wellâ€)
Family: Lamiaceae (Mint family)
‘Husbandmen of Kent do give it their cattle against the cough of the lungs, and I, therefore, mention it because cattle are also in some sort to be provided for in their diseases.’ Coles, 1657, in “Adam in Edenâ€
Common Names: Mullein, Natures Toilet Paper, Candlewick Plant, Velvet Dock, and many more
Scientific Name: Verbascum thapsus
Family: Scrophulariaceae (figwort family)
Parts Used: Leaf (Astringent) and Flower (the flower is more specific for the nervous system, and are more demulcent) Continue reading
Common Names: Usnea, Old Man’s Beard
Scientific Name: Usnea spp.
Family: Usneaceae
I know, I am so far behind!! But, I am writing up some materia medica for a class. So, here is a new one…
Hyssop
“Purge me with Hyssop and I shall be cleanâ€
psalm 51, verse 7
Common Names: Hyssop, Garden Hyssop
Scientific Name: Hyssopus officinalis (meaning “holy herb†“of the apothecaryâ€)
Family: Lamiaceae (mint)
Common Names: Saw Palmetto (Sabal Palm, a?the plant cathetera )
Scientific Name: Serenoa repens (syn. Serenoa serulata, Sabal serrulata)
Family: Arecacea (Palmaceae)
Common Names: Pumpkin, Pepitas
Scientific Name: Curcubita pepo, C. maxima, C. mixta (Cucurbita comes from the Latin word meaning a?gourda )
Family: Cucurbitaceae a the gourd family, which includes cantaloupe, cucumber, and squash.
Common Names: Yellow Dock (AKA Curly Dock, Narrow Dock, Sour Dock)
Scientific Name: Rumex crispus (Rumex meaning a?lancea and Crispus meaning a?curleda or a?crispa )
Common Names: Colts foot (Bulls foot, Coughwort, Horsehoof)
Scientific Name: Tussilago farfara (Tussilago means ..ugh Dispeller..n Latin)
If your hound by hap should bite his master
With honey, rue, and onion make a plaster
– Sir John Harrington, 1608
Common Names: Rue – from the Greek word reuo meaning, .. set free..ainly free from disease (also called Herb-of-Grace, Common Rue, Garden Rue, Herbygrass, Countryman.?Treacle)
Scientific Name: Ruta graveolens (graveolens means ..avy scented..r
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Common Names: Red Root, New Jersey Tea, Wild Snowball
Scientific Name: Ceanothus americanus
This week, I am working on an ethnobotanical herb review…
Common Names: Yopo, Hisiomi, Cohoba, Angico Rosa, Parico, Niopo
Scientific Name: Anadenanthera peregrina
Common Name: Devil.?Club (Alaskan Ginseng)
Scientific Name: Oplopanax horridum (Fatsia horrida, Panax horridum, Echinopanax horridum)
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Common Name: Osha (Porter’s Lovage, Porter’s Licorice Root, Colorado Cough Root, Chuchupate)
Scientific Name: Ligusticum porteri
Painting by Willow Arlene
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Sorry I’ve been falling behind on my herb reviews. It’s been really busy around here and that was one of the things I let go of. I hope to start again next week. We are having lots of visiting friends during November, so right now I am enjoying my socializing!
We have gone out to do some land searches, but haven’t found anything that’s right, yet. There have been a few beautiful pieces, but they were way too far out, and those that are closer to town are too expensive, or too trashed.
Our house in Chapel Hill is set to close in one week! (yeah!) And we just sold one of our cars (the gas powered one. Now we are left with two bio-diesels). All of that will help ease financial woes a bit! Toby and I don’t lead an extravagent lifestyle by any means!! So, it’s very frustrating when you always feel like you are barely making ends meet. I guess the one place we really do spend money is food. I buy mostly organic foods and preferrably local, so, it bumps the price up.
Speaking of foods, I have been thinking about adding meats back to my diet. I have always felt better when I am eating animal protein as opposed to soy or bean or grain proteins. I am also learning a lot in school about nutrition and diet and how so many people have reactions to grains because we eat such a high carb. diet, that our bodies are reacting to it. (It’s much more indepth than that.) But, I feel like, if I am a part of the cycle of birth, life, and death, and I have known the animal, or atleast know the people who have raised it, and the animals have been treated well, and are not fattened up with hormones, or over loaded with antibiotics, then maybe I could feel better about eating meat. I have been eating poultry since I got pregnant with K, and it’s only hormone/antibiotic free and free range. It’s hard though, ’cause Toby is still vegetarian, and I don’t want to have to cook two meals. I am the type of cook who throws everything into one dish anyway, so it’s not like there would be side dishes for him to eat. So, I don’t know. I’m just thinking about it…. I did order 5 pounds of hemp seed, though, so that will help add some protein and Essential Fatty Acids back to our diet!
Common Name: Motherwort (Lion.?tail, Lion.?ear, Throw-wort, Roman Motherwort)
Scientific Name: Leonurus cardiaca
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Common Name: Wild Yam (Devil.?Bones, Colic Root, China Root, Rheumatism Root)
Scientific Name: Dioscorea villosa
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Hey! Sorry most of my posts have just been my herb reviews lately. Things have been really busy around here and I haven’t had much chance to catch up on the blogging. I did, however, have time to try to make a little chocolate! I ordered cocoa nibs from Chocolate Alchemy and roasted them Sat. morning. Then I put them through my champion juicer to try to make a liquor, but it just seemed to be grinding it up and making them into a paste. Then, the juicer started to smoke, so I thought it might be a good idea to move on to another appliance. So, I put it all in my Vita-mix blender and added a little grain alchohol and maple syrup (thinking I could make a tincture for “chocolate medicine!”). Then, I poured it all into a bottle. But, when I checked it this morning, most of the cocoa seed pieces have expanded to take on the liquid and now it is a thick paste stuck in the bottle!! SO, I am going to let it soak there for a few weeks and then either try to scrape it out (it’s a narrow neck liter bottle!), or cut the glass in half!! I am not throwing my chocolate away!!!
I still have a pound and a half of the nibs left. I don’t know what I am going to do with those yet.
roasted nibs
ground nibs
Oh, you all are going to love this one!!!
Common Name: Cocoa (Xocoatl, Cacao, Chocolate, Bitter Water, Food of the Gods)
Scientific Name: Theobroma cacao
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Common Name: Garlic (“Russian Penicillin”)
Scientific Name: Allium sativum
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This one is for you, Kathy!
Common Name: Thyme
Scientific Name: Thymus species (There are over 100 varieties of Thyme, all stemming from Thymus serphyllum or ..ther-of-thyme..r
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Common Names: Elder (Pipe Tree, Tree of Music, Hylde-Maer, and many more!)
Scientific Name: Sambucus Nigra (black elder), S. Canadensis (from Canada), S. Mexicana (from Mexico)
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Ok, here is the first write up! I am going to create a page on my Full Circle Herbs site so that they can all be accessed at once. I figure, if I can keep this up for a year, I will have 52 herbs reviewed! Let me know what other herbs you would like to learn about!
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